Damage Level Assessment of a Typical Five-Story Building with Low-Ductility RC Walls

Between 1997 and 2013, low-ductility reinforced concrete (RC) wall systems were widely used in Peru’s real estate sector due to their economic advantages. Despite good engineering practice recommending a five-story height limit, this restriction was not explicitly included in the Peruvian standards of that period. Regulatory provisions were often supported by numerical models calibrated using one-story wall specimens, which neglect the flexural behavior that dominates in medium-rise structures. This underscores the need to evaluate the inelastic flexural response of such buildings under seismic loading. Cyclic loading tests were conducted on a half-scale, five-story RC wall to calibrate numerical models using a nonlinear multi-spring model of concrete and steel reinforcement behavior. The calibrated model enables accurate assessment of damage progression and performance under varying seismic intensities. Findings reveal that buildings constructed with low-ductility RC walls may have overestimated seismic capacity in their original design. Under severe seismic events, these buildings are likely to exceed reparability thresholds, while under rare seismic events, they approach structural collapse.